A PPP Model For Free Bus Service On SG Highway – Initiative By AUDA To Ease Traffic Congestion Ahmedabad city is the seventh largest metropolis in India and is also the commercial capital of Gujarat. Since 1980s the city has grown from walled city area to far west end. The city was challenged to develop infrastructure to cater to the growing needs. Moreover, vehicular population in Gujarat is rising as the state economy has been continuously doing better. Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway, which is commonly known as SG road is one of the main commercial hub of the western part. However, SG road being a part of the NH 8 has the maximum number of vehicles passing through it creating frequent traffic jams. Therefore, Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) has introduced a free bus service on public-private partnership from High Court to Karnavati Club to ease traffic congestion. Separate bus shelters are constructed by AUDA and the buses are available at a frequency of 10-15 minutes. Moreover, the entire capital and O&M of running the bus services is borne by the partner and for AUDA it’s a no profit-no loss service for its citizens. The main attraction for passengers to avail this service is the parking facility created at both the ends of the six km stretch. Situation Before The Initiative The city of Ahmedabad was set up in Contact Information: 1411 AD as a walled city on the eastern Chief Executive Authority, bank of the river Sabarmati, and in 2007 Ahmedabad Urban Development it is the seventh largest metropolis in Authority, India and the largest in Gujarat. The Usmanpura, population of the city has crossed the Ashram Road, mark of more than 4.4 million. The Ahmedabad – 380 014 peripheral areas of Ahmedabad have been expanding since 1980s and Phone: 079-27545051 population growth in these areas has been more rapid than the areas within the city limits. This is partly due to the Documented by saturation of population within the city Urban Management Centre (UMC), area and the consequent large-scale 3rd Floor, AUDA Building, housing development in the peripheral Usmanpura, areas. Whereas the eastern part of the Ashram Road, city has industrial units and offices. Ahmedabad – 380014 Because of this, the traffic flow is very heavy from west to east in the mornings Telefax: 079-27546403/5303/1599 and vice-versa in the evening, which causes serious traffic congestion on the Email: [email protected] city roads. Documented in December 2007 The annual growth rate of the vehicular population of Gujarat is even higher than the national growth rate because the state economy has been ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 A PPP model for free bus service on SG highway – Initiative by AUDA to ease traffic congestion continuously doing better than many other states for the past many decades. The following table shows total number of vehicle registered and decadal vehicular growth pattern in India, Gujarat and Ahmedabad: India Gujarat Ahmedabad Year Total Decadal Total Decadal Total Decadal growth (%) growth (%) growth (%) 1961 665000 43230 NA 1971 1865000 180 147967 242 62922 1981 5391000 189 522451 253 165620 163 1991 21474000 298 2052391 292 538182 225 2001 54991000 156 5576040 172 1210278 125 Source: MoRTH, Gujarat (City Development Plan-Ahmedabad) The Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway, commonly known as SG road being a part of the NH 8 has the maximum number of vehicles passing through it - goods carriages as well as passenger vehicles. Increasing number of shopping malls have only added to the existing traffic and parking problems, mainly during weekends. The six km stretch from High Court to Karnavati Club has almost 15 malls/multiplexes and shopping arcades. It causes heavy traffic flow, serious traffic congestion and frequent traffic jams on the city roads during peak hours, besides propelling the air pollution level. However, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has already introduced CNG buses to lessen air pollution. To regulate the air pollution levels in Ahmedabad, the Supreme Court of India had also set up Bhure Lal Committee for frequent monitoring. Thus Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) felt the need for an initiative to ease the traffic chaos and reduce air pollution. AUDA, in its continuous endeavor to provide better facilities to the people of Ahmedabad has introduced free bus services – one of its kind dedicated bus services on SG Road on a public-private partnership. Implementation Strategies AUDA has initiated a free bus service scheme What is SWISS Challenge Approach? on a no profit-no loss basis in the western part of the city to ease traffic congestion, especially The Swiss Challenge approach refers to suo- during the peak hours as well as in weekends. motu proposals being received from the The Sarkhej-Gandhinagar road being a part of private participant by the government. The private sector thus provides all details NH8 is frequently used by innumerable number regarding its technical, financial and of vehicles heading to neighbouring states. managerial capabilities and its expectations Along with it, the SG road is also the of government support/concessions. connecting link for the newly developed residential as well as shopping malls. The government may examine the proposal and if the proposal belongs to the declared policy of priorities, then it may invite The bus service has been started on a pilot competing counter proposals from others with basis in November 2007, with four special adequate notice. In the event of a better buses plying between High Court and proposal being received, the original proponent is given the opportunity to modify Karnavati Club covering a stretch of 14 kms. the original proposal. Finally, the better of the two is awarded the project/program for PPP model for selection of partner execution. A method known as SWISS challenge approach was used by AUDA to select a private partner to run the bus facility. From the many proposals received, AUDA selected Vantage Pvt Ltd., a leading outdoor publicity firm to begin the service on a pilot basis. Prior to selection, equal opportunities were given to all the bidders to modify; hence the most competitive bidder was selected thereby. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 A PPP model for free bus service on SG highway – Initiative by AUDA to ease traffic congestion Encouraging community to use free bus services Before introducing the services, leading newspapers of Ahmedabad covered this unique initiative of AUDA. This helped to create awareness among the community towards using bus services, especially on weekends to reduce traffic congestion. Unique colour of the buses also helped to capture the attention of passersby. The three main purposes for introducing the free bus ride between High Court and Karnavati Club are as follows: To ease traffic flow on SG road, especially on High Court & Kanavati Club stretch To reduce air & noise pollution owing to the increasing number of two-wheelers & four-wheelers on this stretch due to newly developed residential areas as well as shopping malls Proper parking facilities for people on either sides of this stretch to encourage people to avail free bus services Facilities for the people using free bus service AUDA has come up with interesting services to promote this bus facility among public, which are as follows: Absolute free bus ride: AUDA has started this bus service as a public-private partnership initiative on a no profit-no loss basis. Therefore, the private partner Vantage Pvt. Ltd. takes care of all the O&M expenses related to running the bus service, which includes man power, gas etc. As the service is being operated on a pilot basis, the buses start from 9:00 am and continue till 8:30 pm as of now. The route covers a stretch of 14 kms: To & fro the bus covers a distance of 14 kms stretch that covers the busiest areas of the SG road. Depending on the response of passengers, AUDA also plans to scale-up the service to a longer route. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 A PPP model for free bus service on SG highway – Initiative by AUDA to ease traffic congestion Dedicated bus shelters at shorter distance: AUDA has constructed around 35 shelters at a distance of every 500 mts. Air conditioned buses: The four buses introduced by AUDA are air-conditioned and run on CNG, which in turn reduces pollution. Radio connectivity: The buses have radios with FM stations that provide throughout entertainment to the passengers. Regular frequency: The buses are available in every 10-15 minutes and AUDA also plans to extend the timings of the bus facility depending on passenger’s response. Refreshments: Light refreshments are offered in the bus on payment of a token charge. Bus route: Shortly, details of bus route shall also be drawn on the buses as well as on the bus shelters too. Results & Impacts People are encouraged to use free bus ride through the help of mass media/ word of mouth to control the flow of vehicles, especially during peak hours. CNG buses reduce level of air pollution in the long run. Systematic parking facilities are created at both the ends of the stretch to encourage people to park their vehicles before boarding the bus. Free-of-cost ride promotes travelers to use this service as it comes with the additional pleasure of sight-seeing with no hassles. The initiative has eased the pressures of traffic controllers. Lessons Learnt Every corner of the city is well connected through the bus services run by Municipal Corporation, but seldom is used by people belonging to higher income strata. However, AUDA’s initiative is encouraging citizens to park their private vehicles to use the free bus ride service. This realization on people’s part that traffic congestion and air pollution cause severe problems comes across as the success of the project.